Qasim al-Araji

Qasim al-Araji
Qasim al-Araji
قاسم محمد جلال الأعرجي الحسيني
Minister of Interior
	In office; 30 January 2017 – 25 October 2018
Prime Minister	Haider al-Abadi
Preceded by	Mohammed Al-Ghabban
Succeeded by	Adil Abdul-Mahdi
National Security Advisor
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; July 2020
Personal details
Born	3 March 1964 (age 60); Kut, Iraq
Political party	Badr Organization
Children	4
Alma mater	Shahid Motahhari High School

Qasim Mohammad Jalal al-Araji Hussaini is an Iraqi politician, former head of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, and a senior member of the Badr Organization. Since July 2020, al-Araji has been Iraq’s National Security Advisor.^[1]

History

Education and Iran–Iraq War

He was born around 1963 in Kut, southern Iraq. He studied accounting at the Ayatollah Motahhari University in Iran, and Islamic studies at the Imam Kadhim Institute.

His official biography claims he moved to Iran shortly after the 1979

Badr Organisation. He received military training in camps of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He fought against Iraq for the remainder of the war, later carrying out intelligence work against the government of Saddam Hussein

.

Return to Iraq

After years of exile in Iran, he returned to Iraq after the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States. On April 19, 2003, he was arrested by the U.S. on suspicion of commanding militia forces. He was held for 85 days and then released on insufficient evidence.

In 2007, he was again detained by

published by WikiLeaks, stated that U.S. forces "had good information based on multiple sources," that al-Araji was "involved in smuggling and distribution" of explosives that were being used to target U.S. forces and that he was "also suspected in involvement in an assassination cell." He was again released for lack of evidence.^[2]

In the

Wasit Province. He was also appointed as a member of the Security & Defense Commission and head of the Badr bloc in the parliament.^[3]

Between 2014 and 2015, he repeatedly claimed the United States was supporting the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, saying, "The U.S. has supported ISIS in Syria and funded the group in Iraq," adding that, "The duality of America is very clear in terms of fighting ISIS, The U.S. government supports the Kurdistan region in battling ISIS, but refuses to stand with the Iraqi security forces or the tribesmen in battling the group."^[4]

He was approved by Parliament as the head of the

Sunnis. He appointed Sunnis to key positions in the Ministry and stated that Iraq continues to need American help.^[6] Following the 2018 Iraqi parliamentary election, Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi

succeeded al-Araji as head of the ministry on an interim basis.